Google

OVERVIEW

How might generative AI improve the lives of the elderly?

For the Google x Design @ Columbia UX Challenge, my team and I chose the challenge prompt which asked us to consider how generative AI might be made more accessible to elderly users. I was personally excited by this prompt because it made me think about how to distill the complexities and possibilities of generative AI into a simple and intuitive interface, accessible by users of all ages and technical backgrounds.

RESEARCH

Designing for accessibility improves experiences for all users

We live in an “aging world” where more and more people need accessible interfaces (Pollack 2005). To truly have an impact, accessible design involves greater thought than just making cosmetic changes to an existing UI. For example, having too many features or tools presented all at once can be overwhelming to users with less technical background (Salman et al. 2018). The bonus of making interfaces more accessible is that everyone can always benefit from more inclusive, intuitive, and user-driven design.

We conducted 5 interviews with Google users aged 65+ and asked them about their experiences using technology products. We were particularly interested in which Google products they used most frequently, and how much they knew about generative AI and Google’s Gemini:

PROBLEM
STATEMENT

How might we make Gemini’s features more accessible and intuitive for elderly users?

Based on our user research, we decided to integrate Gemini into Google Search, a product that the elderly users we surveyed were already very familiar with. Most of the users we surveyed primarily engaged with Google Search on desktop, and so we chose to focus on web experience. We determined that in order for our solution to address user needs, it had to fulfill the following requirements:

• Help new users discover Gemini for the first time

• Demonstrate how Gemini can provide value

• Simplify the process of interacting with Gemini

IDEATION

Users have trouble discovering Gemini? Let’s put it on the most visited page in the world: Google Search

It’s nearly impossible to use the Internet without opening a New Tab in Google Search, making it the most visited page in the world, and the most commonly used Google product among the elderly users we interviewed. For these reasons, we decided that Google Search would be the perfect place to introduce Gemini to a broader audience. Google Search is also the home of Autofill, which was one of the features that elderly users expressed the most enthusiasm for.

CONCEPT 1 GEMINI SEARCH ASSISTANT

As users type, clickable Gemini prompts will show up that related to their evolving search query, in a manner similar to Autofill in Search. The name ‘Search Assistant’ will help users who are new to Gemini understand one of it’s main roles: to assist in the navigation and synthesis of vast quantities of information, and reduce informational overload.

Based on feedback from our Google mentors, however, we decided that having Gemini generate so many suggestions as the user typed might create even more informational overload.

CONCEPT 2 GEMINI CONSTELLATION

We distilled Gemini’s primary functions into 5 tools: Write, Edit, Ideate, Explain, and Create. These new Gemini Tools would be accessible via a minimal button on the new tab page of Google Search. Clicking on any of these tools would transform the tab into a new Gemini chat window. Leaning into the imagery of the word Gemini, I also decided to try laying out the Gemini Tools in the shape of a constellation.

CONCEPT 2.5 GEMINI TOOLS

Our mentors at Google suggested that the constellation UI might not be native enough to Google, so we tried using cards to represent each of the Gemini Tools that were more similar to Google’s existing Gemini UI.

We also wanted there to be a way for people to type their own queries directly into Gemini from the New Tab screen, so we added an “Ask Gemini” text entry bar to the Gemini Tools section as well.

In switching between Google and Gemini tabs, we wanted the interface to stay as similar as possible, to reinforce the notion of the two products being like the Gemini twins.

If the generative AI features were intimidating to a new user, we wanted to include a series of Gemini templates for each tool that could populate the prompt box with variables such as text fields, checkboxes, and dropdowns to help the user tweak their prompt.

INTERLUDE LAUNCH OF GOOGLE’S OWN INTEGRATION

While we were in the midst of ideating and prototyping, Google launched their own Gemini integration in the Google Search mobile app experience. In the Google app, users could now toggle between Google and Gemini at the top of their screen.

We believed that although the toggle concept seemed effective, the visual experience of toggling between Google and Gemini on the mobile app was too jarring because the interfaces for these two services looked very different from each other. This might be confusing for not only elderly users but also for any user who was not yet aware of Gemini. Google’s mobile integration improved the accessibility of Gemini, but did not yet demonstrate the potential value of Gemini to new users.

TESTING &
RE-IDEATION

We returned to our users to see whether the Gemini integrations we had prototyped were useful and intuitive

During usability testing, we found that elderly users liked being able to toggle between Google and Gemini in our Gemini Tools prototype. Those who were unfamiliar with Gemini and generative AI were able to familiarize themselves with Gemini’s functionalities through our new Gemini integration.

Although users appreciated how the Gemini Tools allowed them to better understand the potential use cases of AI, they ultimately preferred the idea of being able to talk directly to Gemini in natural language (whether written or spoken), rather than through excessive or restrictive prompting.

Users especially enjoyed the concept of integrating Gemini into the Autofill experience, as we demonstrated in the Gemini Search Assistant prototype. Based on the support we received for this idea, we decided to make this the core of our final prototype.

Gemini already suggested sample prompts to users when they first opened Gemini, but we discovered that this approach was not especially effective at demonstrating the true value of generative AI to elderly users. Rather than provide generic sample prompts, we wanted to integrate Gemini prompt suggestions into Autofill that would evolve to meet user needs in the moment, and provide personalized aid that was highly relevant to the tasks they were already engaging in.

FINAL
PROTOTYPE

Meet the twins

A simple, non-intrusive button below the search bar in Google Search allows users to toggle between Search and Gemini. When users toggle to Gemini, the search bar is transformed into a Gemini chatbox, allowing users to chat directly with Gemini in a way that feels natural to them, whether using their own words or their own voice, via our microphone button.

A familiar search experience, made even more magical

We learned from our preliminary user interviews and usability testing that elderly users are very comfortable with Autofill in Google Search, and that scanning these results as they type has become habitual. This makes Autofill a great space to introduce Gemini — not only are users used to scanning these Autofill suggestions, but inserting Gemini auto-suggestions into Autofill allows us to demonstrate and anticipate potentially relevant use cases of Gemini to users in real time.

CONCLUSION

Next steps and takeaways

Due to the time constraints of this 8-week design challenge, we were unable to fully flesh out all of the features we were interested in designing. But, if we had more time, here are some of the additional projects we would have wanted to explore.

• AI AGENTS The power of AI lies beyond mere text generation––we believe that being able to ask Gemini to perform actions on behalf of the user (ex: sending emails) would be helpful to elderly users, especially to those with mobility or vision conditions

• ONBOARDING TUTORIALS Integrating Gemini into a tool as commonly used as Google Search might initially cause some confusion, not only for elderly users, but for all Google users. To remedy this, we imagine that a series of dialog pop-ups and guided tutorials could help users get used to this feature.

Final presentation at Google

In late March, my team and I presented our process and final prototype at Google in NYC.